Memories
by Claude Amelia Song
Summary: He looked at her now peaceful face and smiled a sad smile. It wouldn't last long; the bad memories would come and haunt her again, but he would be there each time to banish them.


Assigmnent 9: A Study of Magical Healing: Dr Ubbly's Oblivious Unction  
Task: Write about the effect bad memories can have on a person.

 **Warning: It contains a student/teacher relationship and the student is underage. Also mentions rape.**

Word count: 812

Betaed by Sam. Thank you.

"No! Please don't hurt me! Stop! Please! Don't…!" Luna cried in her sleep, waking Severus.

He started shaking her and murmuring sweet words into her ear.

"Love, it's alright. You're safe. You're with me at Hogwarts. Nobody is going to hurt you. I promise," he said as he kissed her hair softly.

But she didn't seem to hear him and continued to struggle under the sheets, trying to hit him.

"Luna!" he shouted once more and her eyes snapped open, full of fear and confusion.

"Severus?" she whispered in the dark room.

He took her into his arms and hugged her tightly, careful not to frighten her.

"Yes, it's me," he said softly, caressing her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Severus," she sobbed.

"It's alright, Love."

"No, it's not alright. It's not alright to wake you up every night with my nightmares and to hit you when you wake me up. And it's most certainly not alright that I keep you from your friends because I can't stand to see them, to be in the same room as them or that I'm unstable emotionally and you.. you're stuck with me."

Severus sighed. They had this conversation at least thrice a week ever since the end of the war. It broke his heart to see her like this. His beautiful, strong wife had become just a shell of her former self.

Gone was the girl he had fallen in love with, the girl who had managed to break through his walls and touch his heart. The one who had made him break all of the rules and morals he held dear-not that he regretted it in any way-dating and marrying her while she was his student, who had convinced him that nothing was wrong. Though that didn't mean that he didn't love her anymore, he did with all his heart, but it hurt him to see her in this state. She hadn't mentioned a Green Star or Nargles in years. She wasn't dreamy anymore; she was broken. And in turn, it broke him, too.

People had thought him to be heartless for years, and even now, when he was free of all the pretending, when he had proved to them how considerate he could be and how gentle, they still didn't believe him.

But he did have a heart and it was broken at the sight of his wife. He had cursed the day he had let her go home a million times over, not that it helped anything. Her memories of the time spent in the Malfoy Manor haunted her even three years later, causing her nightmares during the night and panic attacks during the day.

Also she couldn't see Lucius, Cissa, Draco, or Andromeda (since she looked so much like Bellatrix) without screaming blue murder. As a result, he couldn't see his oldest friend at all. They communicated with letters.

He couldn't leave Luna alone; he didn't know when a particularly bad memory would come and haunt her and cause her a panic attack. She needed him.

And while it hurt a bit that he had to give up his teaching position at Hogwarts and meeting with his friends, it was a small price to pay to be with his wife.

He could have lost her, his only rock. The one who had kept him alive at Hogwarts, the one who had given him the necessary strength to do what Albus had asked him to do.

And now, now she needed him. And it was all thanks to the his fellow Death Eaters. They had tortured her almost to insanity; they have beaten her, and they had tried to rape her. And of course, Bella was the first to participate, bringing the Malfoys with her. She had only escaped the raping because they needed her father to cooperate.

They had broken her, taking every memory she had held dear, leaving behind only the memories she wanted to forget.

And now she couldn't forget. Everything was forever burnt in her mind or so the healer had said. Severus still hoped. And he prayed that she would forget one day. That she would become who she had it would pass.

His hope was Hermione Weasley, a Healer and a Potions Mistress that was working on something to help her. Hermione knew exactly how Luna felt, having experienced herself the torture of Bellatrix Lestrange. But she had pulled through much better and faster than his wife.

He looked at her now peaceful face and smiled a sad smile. It wouldn't last long; the bad memories would come and haunt her again, but he would be there each time to banish them.

And perhaps one day, they would lose the power they had over her; their effect would disappear and they would be banished for good.

And he would have his wife back.


End file.
